The present invention is related to microfiche transport systems, and in particular a transport system wherein the microfiche may be selectably and independently moved along the X and Y axes so as to automatically position selected frames on the microfiche relative to the lens system.
With the increase in popularity of microfiche storage systems for storing vast amounts of data in relatively small spaces comes the attendant problem of being able to selectively retrieve specific frames of data from individual microfiche. The present invention is generally related to those systems wherein the reduced data contained within the various frames on each microfiche is found in various format sizes. A format typically accommodating data contained on documents that are 81/2.times.11 inches or 11.times.14 inches and each microfiche being relegated to documents of the same format. Thus, any size document can be reduced to one or more microfiches and numerous documents can be reduced to a relatively small file of microfiches.
Retrieval of the information contained on the individual microfiches, however, presents a problem to the operator of having to identify the desired data and then locate the data upon one or more microfiches. While various cataloging and indexing schemes are well known and provide the operator with the ability to locate and select the desired microfiche from a larger file, it still becomes necessary for the operator to be able to locate the specific data on the selected microfiche. The present invention therefore relates to a system for permitting the operator to automatically locate selected frames on the microfiche relative to the lens system of a microfiche reader.
Prior to the present invention, numerous techniques and combinations of apparatus have been employed for positioning a selected frame on a microfiche relative to the microfiche reader's lens system and/or selecting a specific microfiche from a file containing numerous microfiche. While the former are of particular interest, the latter do provde some insight into the mechanisms most commonly employed. Various prior art systems for selecting desired microfiche and/or frames of a microfiche from a data file can be found with reference to H. H. Balbierer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,858; Pearson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,451; and Nicholson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,652. These patents generally and respectively describe systems wherein various frames of data are stored on punch cards, on a microfiche carousel or on a microfilm web. Pearson, however, shows the only mechanism for positioning individual microfiche relative to a platen via the use of analog-type servo motors.
Other systems too can be found in varying complexity for automatically and selectively controlling the positioning of a microfiche along the X and Y axes. Gobel in U.S Pat. No. 3,870,413 teaches a relatively complex rack and pinion ratchet or detent type assembly that is movable along the X and Y axes via flexible cords that are attached to split-phase capacitive reversible motors and slidable frames, one mounted upon the other and each orthogonally movable relative to the other. Another simpler microfiche transport system can be found in Yeda et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,266, which discloses first and second slidable frames that are capable of movement orthogonal to one another via analog servo motors acting through a pulley and wire arrangement coupled thereto. Probably the most pertinent prior art patent known to applicants is the Toriumi et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,684 which discloses a microfiche transport system comprised of slidable frames that are capable of movement orthogonal to one another via pulley and wire assemblies coupled to pulse motors which receive their driving pulses from pulse emitter circuits that are coupled to decoding and arithmetic circuits such that control of the movement of the slidable frames to position desired frames on the microfiche relative to the lens system of a microfiche reader is achieved.
While these examples of prior art disclose various combinations of apparatus of varying degrees of complexity, nowhere is a microfiche transport system disclosed having all the features, functional capabilities, and the simplicity of the transport system of the present invention. In accordance with the present invention, orthogonal movement along the X and Y axes via a support member or saddle and the microfiche holder or table is effectuated by means of a lead screw and a pulley and wire system which are independently coupled to first and second stepper motors and which stepper motors are, in turn, coupled to a programmable microprocessor. The prior art fails to teach such a microfiche transport system. Additionally, the system of the present invention provides audible warnings, selective variations of the magnification factor of the lens system, individual adjustment of the magnification of the lens system at discrete levels of magnification and the ability to selectively read microfiche cards having frames of different formats affixed thereto. All these capabilities are combined in a system that is more versatile and less complex from a mechanical standpoint than any known competing product presently being marketed.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a microfiche transport system having a pulsed stepper motor rotationally driving a precision lead screw which is arranged to linearly translate a saddle member in small, known, incremental steps relative to a support base.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a microfiche transport system that is controlled via an operator keyboard and a programmable microprocessor operatively coupled to the keyboard as well as to discrete switches mounted upon the X-Y transport mechanism.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a microfiche transport system that is adapted to handle microfiche having frames of varying formats.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a microfiche transport system capable of selectively varying the magnification of its lens system and individually adjusting the magnification of the lens system to accommodate the discrete levels of magnification.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a microfiche transport system providing for audible warnings to the operator when error conditions are detected in the system.
These objects and others while being accommodated via the present invention will become more clear upon reference to the following description in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts.